


Some Kind of Curse

by temperancejones



Series: SKOC verse [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode: s01e01 Pilot, F/M, Gen, Kris just laughs with chin and kono and Steve and Danny being dumb, Original Character - Freeform, Plothole Fill, Steve McGarrett Needs a Hug, Steve and Danno are still OTP though, Steve gets actual character development, Steve mcgarrett learns to love being a human again, What if Steve mcgarrett had a twin sister who helped him stay human during his navy/military days?, What if?, and now I actually have time to write, and the brain capacity for it, and then I rewrote this story for the thirtieth time, basically I'm just sad that h50 ended and I wrote an alternate ending, kris is basically the more human version of Steve and can communicate, kris mcgarrett gives Steve those hugs, kris mcgarrett handles all of the governor's BS for steve, nothing can break them up, this has been my baby for the last seven years, this has literally been rewritten since 2013
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25176232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/temperancejones/pseuds/temperancejones
Summary: Born four minutes before her twin brother Steve, Kris McGarrett was given the duty to take care of him, and make sure that he didn't get lost in his own mind. After the death of their mother, Kris went on to become the USA's first female Navy SEAL, graduating second in her class, right under her twin, Steve. When tragedy strikes on a high stakes mission, Kris and Steve find themselves back home on O'ahu, hunting down global terrorist Victor Hesse, who murdered their father in cold blood. while hunting Hesse down, the McGarrett twins are offered to run a special Taskforce under the authority of the Governor of Hawaii to serve and protect the island and make sure that criminals like Hesse stay away from the place they once called home. Recruiting a rough-around-the-edges detective fresh from New Jersey, a disgraced Honolulu P.D. Detective and a rookie two weeks away from her Honolulu P.D. Academy graduation, The McGarrett twins switch gears and take charge of the Governor's Taskforce, serving the people of Hawaii, just as their father once did.*I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of the characters, that belongs to Mr. Lenkov, Mr. Freeman and CBS... I just want a happier life for Steve McGarrett and Five-0.*
Relationships: Chin Ho Kelly & Steve McGarrett, Danny "Danno" Williams/Original Female Character(s), Kono Kalakaua & Steve McGarrett, Kristine McGarrett/ Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams & Grace Williams, Steve McGarrett/Catherine Rollins
Series: SKOC verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823890
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, everyone to my final rendition of Some Kind of Curse! I promise, I will stop re-uploading this story... I think I am finally happy with how it is turning out! if you're new to this fic, then hello! if you have read my other versions of it, then welcome back! Over the last seven years, I have been trying to develop this story and have written many codas for episodes that I want to include Kris in, so I thought now would be the perfect time to fix up this story and hopefully publish it, as well as the little codas I have written as well! 
> 
> thanks for reading! I should be able to update this once a week?  
> Cheers! 
> 
> \- tempe 
> 
> just when I thought it couldn't get any worse  
> somebody put me under some kind of curse  
> I feel like I drank a whole barrel of wine  
> man I feel like this most of the time  
> but other than that, I'm doing fine  
> \- Séan McCann, Doing Fine (2011)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Kris experience some more unexpected trauma.

The tension in the air lurking around Steve and Kris McGarrett was the first thing to enter the armoured Humvee. Kris almost had to drag her twin brother Steve and their prisoner to their getaway truck back in North Korea, as he didn’t want to leave Freddy, his best friend, who sacrificed his life for them behind. Kris, who was already hot-wiring the vehicle from the driver’s seat begged Steve to get in the truck, telling him that they would come back for Freddy and bring him home. Hell, she even promised him, and that was a very special favour for her to hand out nowadays- nothing can be for certain in the life of a soldier, but Kris was certain that they would be back for Freddy’s body so he could get a proper burial at home like the hero he truly was.

Now safely at the convoy a few miles away from the tiny north Korean village they found Anton Hesse in, Steve lets his shields drop a little bit and mourn his best friend who gave his life for his and his sister’s safe escape. Sitting across from her brother and next to Hesse in the small cab of their armoured Humvee, Kris bangs on the partition to tell the driver to take off, and then puts a hand on Steve’s knee, trying to silently comfort him. If they weren’t in front of a global terrorist right now, Kris would discuss what just happened to try and get Steve to open up and speak his mind a little bit before their debrief, where he would hold in all of his emotions and just do his job, showing nothing but strength. Deep down, Kris knows that Steve is still a scared sixteen-year-old boy who was sent off to the Naval Academy by their grieving father, who was too depressed from their mother’s sudden and unexpected death to take care of his kids anymore. Thankfully, Steve and Kris got to stay together at the Academy, but their younger sister Mary, who was only 10 at the time, got sent off to Los Angeles to live with their Aunt Deb. Now, fifteen years later, Steve and Kris only really have each other to rely on, as they have been inseparable since the day they left home, which was once on the beautiful island of O’ahu. The only time they really talk to their father and sister nowadays is on birthdays and holidays when they’re not deployed, which unfortunately isn’t often for them. Steve and Kris take pride in their work in the Navy and Army, and that’s because it was there for them both when their family couldn’t be. 

Steve nods at his sister, silently thanking her for her support, which causes her to retract her hand from his thigh and put it back on her gun to stay alert. Steve then reaches across the small cab of the truck and pulls the pillowcase off of Anton Hesse’s head, revealing his greasy, dishevelled hair and face. If Hesse wasn’t wearing a TAC vest right now, Kris is pretty sure she would have just shot him on the spot, out of pure hatred and disgust towards this man. Hesse looks around for a moment to try and figure out who grabbed him, and where he is, since he was swiped away from the village so fast that he never got to see who snatched him. When Anton recognizes the McGarrett twins, he lets out a chuckle, which causes Kris and Steve’s stomachs to do a bit of a flip flop. Kris’ heart rises to her throat, getting a feeling that something bad is going to go down, since Hesse almost looked happy to see her and Steve. Staying silent, Hesse looks around the truck again, and then decides to stare at the twins, looking curious about something. 

Kris is the first one to speak up at his weird staring. “hey,” she says loudly to him, getting his attention. “What the fuck are you looking at?” She asks him, trying to scare some of the cockiness and swagger out of him. Hesse just smiles and laughs a little bit, which definitely was not the reaction Kris was expecting. Steve leans across the truck and grabs Hesse’s collar, yanking him closer to Steve’s face. “she asked you a question, Anton.” Steve snarls, flashing his teeth a little bit, to try and show Anton that they aren’t going to take any of his bullshit right now. Steve and Kris have been tracking Anton and his older brother Victor across the world for years now and are a little mad that they have only caught one of them so far. Anton rolls his eyes and tests the zip ties on his wrists, trying to see how much room he has to play with. Steve shoots him a glare from across the truck, looking like he wants to reach across the truck and strangle the terrorist, but doesn’t actually act on it. A tense silence breaks out again for the next few minutes, allowing Kris and Steve to look over Anton and analyze his every move so they are prepared for a possible attack by him; they are always on high alert and attack mode, so they are ready for whatever Anton has planned. His extraction from the village seemed a little too easy, and only a bit of a fight was put up at their escape, costing Freddy his life. Deep down, Kris has a gut feeling that there is something else at bay here with Anton, but she doesn’t know what. She looks over at him, trying to read the smirk on his face and understand why he is acting so arrogant about his capture. He should be silent and terrified about being handed over to the American government, not like someone who just won the metaphorical lottery. 

Anton sits up in his seat and begins to speak. “It’s funny. You two don’t look Hawaiian.” He says to the twins, obviously trying to get a rouse out of them. He fails miserably of course, because they both remain stone faced. They don’t even blink. 

“you’re gonna tell us everything, Anton. Just give it time.” Steve says with a bit of a snappy tone, completely avoiding Anton’s question about them. 

Anton just smirks in reply. “But you were born there, weren’t you?” Anton asks this time, still trying to hit a sensitive spot or something on the two soldiers. He probably knows that they won’t reply to any of his questions, but as long as he gets them talking to distract them, then he has completed his task. 

Now it’s Kris’ turn to says something snippy to Anton. “Every terrorist cell you and victor helped arm, every supplier you ever worked with, all of your trafficking associates… Everyone you’ve ever sold weapons to… we will know once were done with you.” Kris says firmly, trying again to reiterate that they did not capture him to fuck around and become friends- Anton and Victor Hesse are global terrorists that must be stopped, and it is Steve and Kris’ job to take them down. 

Anton wiggles his eyebrows, completely ignoring the glares and threats he is getting from the soldiers in the Humvee with him. “With you two chasing my brother and I around the world for five years… Like a doggy lookin’ for a bone… You don’t think we’d do our homework on you, would ya?” Anton smirks, just as Steve’s satellite phone rings, which makes his and Kris’ eyebrows furrow in confusion. Nobody should be calling them right now, especially when they’re on a mission as critical as this one. 

Steve quickly pulls his phone out of his TAC vest and looks at the screen. He scowls at the caller ID, and quickly flashes the screen over to his sister to show her that it’s their dad calling him. Kris’ phone then rings too, which makes her heart rise to her throat. She knows already that this isn’t going to end well- there are too many red flags being put up right now. She pulls her phone out of her TAC vest and sees that the call is coming from her dad’s cell phone too. The McGarretts lock eyes momentarily, allowing each other to know that they know something suspicious is up and to be careful. 

“You should probably get that. You two don’t speak to your old man nearly enough.” Anton suddenly says, which makes Kris see red. She immediately knows that this was Anton’s plan all along, and they easily fell into his to trap. All she can do is pray to god that her dad comes out of this unharmed. 

After shooting Anton a vicious look, Steve answers his phone. Kris follows suit with hers. “Dad?” Steve asks, feeling his heart pound in his ears. He knows something bad is happening right now but has no idea what to do about it. 

“Hey champ… Hey Tiger.” The gruff voice of their father, John McGarrett says, sounding exhausted. Kris and Steve now know that something is horribly wrong from his voice, and from the fact that he never calls them anything other than their names- the nicknames strike them as odd. Filing the nicknames in the back of her mind, Kris is the next one to talk. “You alright?” she asks cautiously, trying not to give anything away too early. John replies almost immediately. “Who are these people, guys?” he asks, now sounding a little scared. The fear in his voice makes Kris’ breath hitch in her throat. John McGarrett isn’t scared of anything, nor does he ever sound as vulnerable as he does now. Something is very, very wrong.  
Then, the cocky, arrogant voice of Victor Hesse comes onto the call, which makes her see red. Before Steve can even say anything to her, Kris hangs up her phone and dials the Honolulu Police Department, as she has had that number memorized since she was a kid, since her dad still works there to this day. When a receptionist picks up the phone, Kris asks for Sargent Duke Lukela, who was dad’s best friend when Kris was growing up, and she hopes to god that he is still on the force too- she hasn’t seen him in about fifteen years, so anything could be possible at this point. Thankfully, she gets patched through to Duke right away. 

Clearing her throat, she puts on her tough sounding commander voice once Duke answers the phone. “Duke. It’s Kris McGarrett. There is something going on at my house. I have reason to believe that my father is being held hostage by Victor Hesse, a global terrorist and an unknown number of hostiles there. We need your help. 2727 Piikoi Street, ASAP please.” She says as briefly as possible, hoping that Duke remembers her and trusts her enough to listen to this random call from her. 

Duke stays silent for a moment, most likely to comprehend everything that was just said to him, interrupting his Tuesday morning, which was already filling up with lots of paperwork. Leaning forward on his desk, his brain starts to go a mile a minute. Why is it always the McGarretts that are getting into big trouble on this island, he asks himself, but then takes a deep breath before answering Kris on the line, who does sound a little scared, even if she was the United States’ first female Navy SEAL, meaning she was supposed to be fearless. “You got it Kris. We will be there in five minutes.” Duke tells her. 

Kris thanks him quickly, and before she can hang up, an explosion rocks the Humvee, which jumpstarts her sympathetic nervous system and instantly puts her into fight or flight mode. Letting out a few choice words, she hangs up and throws her phone down, and braces for impact as another explosion hits, this time sending the Humvee toppling onto its side. Kris cranks her head hard enough off the seat in front of her to see stars for a few seconds, but she quickly regains her bearings and remembers the mission at hand.

Anton Hesse… who is currently trying to worm his way out of the Humvee. Kris grabs him by the back of his shirt and pulls him back down to the floor (which is actually the door of the Humvee) next to her. He tries to wiggle his way out of her grip, but she overpowers him and holds him in place as Steve slaps a spare TAC vest on him. Kris checks her gun, making sure that its loaded, and looks at Steve, already equipped with a plan. “I’ll go first and clear the way. I don’t know what’s out there, but your job is to protect the prisoner, okay?” She tells him, and he nods. Feeling her heart rise to her throat, she lets out a puff of air and walks out right into an ambush. Cursing silently, she opens fire on the unknown hostiles, who are head to toe in black, and seem to keep coming from black helicopters over the ridge. Kris takes aim at the helicopters and manages to take down one, giving Steve and Hesse a clear path out of the truck, which is about to be closed in on again. Kris shouts at Steve to move out and covers him as he drags Hesse by the vest to a new spot of cover, behind another transport, making sure that we come out alive from this ambush with Anton. Kris and Steve work on autopilot when taking down the hostiles, making sure to pick them off one by one, so they can manage an escape with their prisoner and figure out how the hostiles managed to locate them so easily. Steve and Kris spilt up, trying to cover more ground and make sure that the coast is clear- there are a couple more hostiles hanging around somewhere, but they haven’t been able to locate them yet, so they decided that splitting up would be the fastest way of finding them. Carefully, Kris walks out from in between two transports, trying to track down the remaining hostiles, when Steve shouts at her to get down. She hits the deck as fast as she can, but not fast enough to avoid getting hit with a bullet or two on the way down. The bullets tear into her left shoulder and her TAC vest, which knocks the wind out of her. Steve quickly eliminates the remaining hostiles, and then shouts something at Anton. Forcing out a cough to get her breath back, Kris scrambles to her feet and sees Steve drawing his sidearm. She does the same and runs over to him. “Put it down, Anton, don’t make me shoot!” Steve yells, and clicks off the safety of his gun. Anton does the same, and aims the gun at Steve, but before he can pull the trigger, Anton is put down by multiple bullets to his chest, fired from Steve’s gun. 

Slamming her gun back into her vest, Kris runs over to Anton, who is now wheezing and bloody, gasping for one last breath. “Come on, Anton, please don’t,” Kris pleads quietly, but before she can even reach for his carotid to feel his pulse, Anton goes limp. She checks for a pulse to make sure, but when she can’t find one, its confirmed. She drips back on her knees and lets out a puff of air, wondering what the hell Victor is going to do about this. Before her mind can go to the worst-case scenario, Steve’s phone rings again. Kris rises to her feet and locks eyes with her twin brother- they both know that something bad is about to go down with this call from Victor, and don’t really know what to expect or how to really prepare for it. Kris just hopes to god that HPD can get there in time to stop Hesse from doing something possibly devastating. Steve picks up the phone with hesitation and puts it on speaker so Kris can listen in on it too. Before either of them can say anything, Victor orders them to put Anton on the phone. Stuttering, Steve and Kris try to come up with something that won’t give away the fact that Anton is dead, but only manage to say “Listen, Victor...”, which makes Victor mad. The line goes silent for a few moments, before Victor speaks up again. 

“My brother’s dead, isn’t he?” Victor asks loudly. Kris and Steve don’t know how to answer. There is no way that they can say this lightly to him, or even avoid it without their father getting hurt. “Isn’t he?!” Victor shouts at their collective silence and doesn’t even let them answer before he says the worst thing they could possibly imagine. “Then so is your father.” Victor says flatly, then fires off a shot. 

Kris lets out a guttural scream as she falls to her knees, begging anyone who would listen to spare her father’s life, as Steve shouts a loud “NO!” into the phone, and tries to yell at Victor, only to find out that he has disconnected the call. Steve curses and redials their dad’s phone, only to get no answer. He keeps trying until someone finally picks up after the fourth time, but it’s not John McGarrett answering, its Duke Lukela. Steve falls to his knees and puts his phone on speaker again so Kris can hear what’s going on too. Right now, she is looking at the ground and taking some deep breaths to keep herself relatively calm. 

“Duke, is our father dead?” Steve asks, ripping off the Band-Aid in one go. Dukes silence speaks volumes to the two on the other end of the line. 

“I’m so sorry, Steve. I’m so sorry Kris. We weren’t fast enough.” Duke says quietly. Steve lets out a quiet thank you and hangs up the phone. Feeling tears well up into his eyes, Steve takes a deep breath and puts a hand on his sister’s shoulder in consolidation, hoping that they can keep calm and get through this together. They can mourn their father once Hesse is caught and brought to justice for his murder, so for now, they have a mission to complete, and wont rest until Hesse is either in their custody or six feet in the ground.

Kris takes a deep breath and looks down at the green grass below her, Steve’s hand on her shoulder snaps her back to attention and into SEAL mode, remembering that she is still on a mission: Find Victor Hesse, dead or alive and make him pay for everything that he has done, no including the murder of her own father, John McGarrett. Kris pats Steve’s hand on her shoulder and they both rise up to their feet once again – Kris notices some sharp pain in her ribs from the two bullets her vest caught, and a throbbing pain in her shoulder from the bullet still lodged in there. She quickly rips off her scarf and ties a quick tourniquet around the wound to stop the bleeding; this is the least of her worries right now. Right now, Kris, Steve and the survivors of the ambush need to get the hell back to base and report so they can finish their mission and take Hesse down, once and for all, now that he made it very personal. 

Fifteen minutes later, once all the casualties are loaded into a transport and the survivors are back on their feet, they continue to base, which is only a few miles away, thankfully. Kris and Steve just can’t seem to get the sound of the gunshot that killed their father out of their mind, though. They both know that it will haunt them for the rest of their lives; in a way, they were responsible for his death, and that is something they will have to carry with them until they die too.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve And Kris return home to O'ahu make funeral arrangements for their father, and get a little sidetracked on the way.

Upon Steve and Kris’ arrival at their base about half an hour later, they were both dragged to the medic, where they also got grilled by their Captain waiting for them there, who was red with anger that Anton Hesse was killed on the extraction mission. Steve and Kris tried to explain what had happened, and how their mission had somehow been compromised, but the Captain wouldn’t have any of it. Of course, they were immediately taken off the mission, as they were now emotionally compromised and a conflict of interest due to both of them and their father getting dragged into this mess and ordered to return to O’ahu for a family emergency. They were forbidden to investigate this case further and were told that if they were caught impeding on the Navy’s investigation and mission, they would be facing a court martial. And then, the Captain left as soon as he got there, mumbling something about how he was sorry for their loss. 

Still unable to comprehend everything that had just happened, Steve and Kris let the medics look them over and patch up Kris’ bullet wound. Thankfully, the bullet ricocheted off of Kris’ TAC vest and lodged itself in her deltoid muscle. The bullet was easily removed, and by the looks of it, the wound should heal on its own in a few weeks, but unfortunately for her, her left arm is put in a sling and she is given direct orders to keep it as still as possible to allow the muscle to heal properly. Once the medics give them both approval to leave, they are escorted out of the med bay, where they are immediately taken to their quarters and given ten minutes to gather their things. Steve quickly fills both of their duffle bags, thanks to Kris only having one working arm right now. The twins are then quickly escorted to the Humvees and brought to the nearest airbase, where a cargo plane is being held for them to board so they can get home as soon as possible. 

Steve and Kris keep their heads down and find themselves unable to find the right words to say to each other during their entire trip back home, so they were silent for pretty much the entire fifteen-hour trip. The trip took two separate planes to finally get them to Hickam airbase on the beautiful, sunny island of O’ahu, which was once their home many years ago. If the McGarretts’ visit back home for the first time in almost seventeen years was under better circumstances, they would almost feel relieved to be back on the island. But, of course, what they were feeling was quite the opposite- their visit to the island was to bury their father, and then take care of all of the legal issues before getting shipped back out overseas for their next mission, as if nothing had ever happened. Being ordered off the mission that resulted in their father’s death was definitely a low blow to both Steve and Kris, but they both knew that they couldn’t risk their careers for some petty revenge on Victor Hesse. So, like the good little soldiers they are, they will do what needs to be done here, and then get buried in another op as always. Hell, maybe they will even switch gears and go back to intelligence or something to make sure that their brains are constantly occupied so they can forget that they don’t have parents anymore. 

Just as the plane touches down to the tarmac of the Air Force base and the pilot takes over control of the plane, the co-pilot turns around and looks at Kris. “Ma’am, I have an incoming call from the Governor of Hawaii. If you put on the spare headset, I will patch you in.” he says to her, gesturing to the headset dangling above Kris’ head. She tries to put on the headset herself, but with one hand, she has no luck. Steve reaches over and puts it on his sister’s head, chuckling a little bit at her frustration. Feeling a little angry at her inability to do such a simple task, Kris nods to the co-pilot to connect her to the call while the plane taxis around the airstrip.   
A woman’s voice patches through the headset, which Kris assumes is the governor. She hasn’t been keeping track of who is in office at home anymore, as her and Steve have been away for far too long to care at this point. 

“Commander, this is Governor Pat Jameson. I just wanted to start by saying I’m so sorry for your loss.” The Governor says to Kris, which makes her heart speed up a little bit- she forgot how painful it was to hear people say I’m sorry for your loss to her. Its something she has detested since the day her mother died. Were people truly sorry for her loss? Or did they just want to make sure that Kris, Steve and their little sister Mary, who was only ten at the time of their mothers death, were getting enough attention, as all eyes were on the honorable John McGarrett, who was simply inconsolable… more than words could ever describe. Her father’s pained cry from the front door was a sound that was forever ingrained into Kris’ brain, and is something that will haunt her forever, along with the singular gunshot that murdered her father less than twenty-four hours ago. 

Snapping out of her dreadful thoughts, Kris sits upright in her seat, putting on her Commander façade once again. She clears her throat and speaks into the microphone. “Thank you, Ma’am. What may I do for you?” 

“I’d like to talk with you and your brother in person, can we meet at Pearl Harbour in two hours? That will be at about 1300.” Governor Jameson requests hopefully. 

Kris takes a moment to wonder why on earth the Governor of Hawaii would want to talk in person with both her and Steve, especially when they have way too much stuff to do in preparation for their father’s funeral. But, A conversation with the governor should be relatively harmless, so Kris agrees to it, and ends the call with the governor. Kris immediately tells Steve about their meeting with the governor, which makes him scowl a little bit, silently wondering why the governor would want to see them as well. 

The plane stops shortly after the call ends, and they quickly disembark, where they are met with Captain Twill, a short, stocky man who welcomes them home and shows them to their loaner car for their visit to the island, making sure that they can get around and take care of everything they need to. Thanking the Captain, Steve and Kris hop into the black SUV and head to Arizona hall, which is the lodging hotel for all Navy, Military and Air Force members on Hawaii. It takes them about half an hour to get to the hotel and get checked in, which leaves them an hour and a half to prepare for their meeting with the Governor. 

Still not talking much, Kris and Steve take turns showering to wash off the grime on them from their mission in Korea and look presentable for the Governor. When Steve gets out of the shower, Kris is already putting on her dress blues, thankful that they didn’t get wrinkled from her abrupt trip home with them. Steve, who is already in his dress pants and has his shirt on, just unbuttoned, notices that Kris is struggling with the buttons, as they are impossible to do up one-handed, and chuckles at her from the door of the bathroom. 

“Need a hand?” Steve asks, smirking a little bit. 

“What I really need is a stiff drink, but yes, a hand please. I’m not going to meet the governor with a uniform that is half buttoned up.” Kris sighs. Steve does up his shirt and walks over to his sister, and does hers up for her, and fixes her collar. Kris thanks him, and sits down on the edge of the bed, sighing. 

Steve sits next to her, fixing his own collar now, making sure it’s perfect. “This really isn’t how I wanted to come home for the first time since we left, y’know?” Kris confesses. Steve nods and rubs his eyes. “you and me both. I just can’t believe we never got to see him-“, Steve starts to say, but his voice breaks, and he chokes back a sob.   
He’s right, though. They haven’t really been on good terms with their father since he shipped them away to private school and the Naval Academy on the mainland when they were sixteen. Kris always wondered why their father had pushed all of his children away so much after the death of their mother- but that’s something she might never know now.   
Kris leans into her brother’s side and puts her head on his shoulder in a silent form of comfort. Steve wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her in tighter for a side hug. He places a kiss on the top of her head- something that he hasn’t done in years, as Kris hates it when they show emotion to one another around fellow troops or even on base, since people assume things about them, which piss her off to no extent. Kris has spent most of her career trying to stay out of Steve’s shadow, as most people in the Navy and Military think it’s outrageous to have a female such as herself on the front lines with the men, even though she is more qualified and trained than most of the soldiers she works with. Kris broke a lot of barriers during her career in the Navy- she became the United States’ first female SEAL and was one of the first women to be on the front lines in general while the States troops were stationed in the middle east. So, with a reputation like that, she definitely doesn’t want people to think that the only reason she got accepted to all of those high-profile posts and ops was because of her brother, who was on them as well. Kris worked just as hard in training to walk alongside Steve during her career so far. 

The twins sit like that for a few minutes, just allowing each other to silently mourn their father, a man they felt like they barely knew, but still loved him very much, despite not seeing him for half of their lives. Steve is the first one to break their silence again. 

“So, what needs to be done for the funeral?” He asks, which immediately ruins Kris’ rare calm state of mind she had maintained from hugging her brother. 

Kris lets out a loud exhale and rubs her face, now sitting upright again, and off of Steve. “A lot. We need to call Duke and get an update on everything. I’m assuming HPD is investigating this as a homicide, which is going to fuck us over, probably. But we need to make funeral arrangements and try to get him buried either at punchbowl or with mom and grandma. Duke should be able to help, I think. Hopefully we can push the funeral to tomorrow and get it over with.” Kris begins to ramble, suddenly remembering everything that she helped dad with for her mother’s funeral all those years ago. 

Steve sighs. “Okay, so after we meet the Governor, we can swing by HPD and talk to Duke and get this shit over with… which leads me to my next question… what do you want to do about Hesse?” Steve explains, and then asks his sister seriously, with a little glimmer of hope in his eyes. 

Kris furrows her brows and looks back at Steve, trying to read his face to understand what he means, hoping that he isn’t talking about risking his career with this. They both know that if they go down this road, there will be no turning back; they will either get away with disobeying a direct order or get court martialed for doing such an absurd thing, and then get dishonorably discharged. “Please don’t tell me that you’re seriously thinking about doing this, are you?” Kris asks, already knowing the answer. Steve is going to be a stubborn McGarrett about finding Hesse- of course he’s thinking about doing this. 

Steve nods. “I was thinking about it the entire trip home, and in the shower. Some things just don’t add up to me. Dad called us Tiger and Champ. I think it means something, but I don’t know what. I want to find out, and I want Hesse to pay for what he did. That son of a bitch needs to go down.” Steve explains, which immediately makes Kris’ mind race. 

Kris thinks about it for a few moments, wondering why these oddities never occurred to her; She was probably too busy being anxious about the upcoming funeral for her father. She has always hated funerals- they offered no closure whatsoever and were very upsetting to attend. “Tiger and Champ… Champ as in that old toolbox we got him for Father’s Day when we were little to work on the Marquis? And that stupid tiger I made him in grade six art class?” Kris speculates, just throwing her first thoughts out there to Steve. 

“The one he kept on his desk, in the den, right? And the toolbox! Yes, it was in the garage, but I don’t ever remember grabbing tools from it?” Steve then adds on, snapping his fingers for dramatic effect, which ignites a spark of sheer curiosity between the twins. Now they both know that they have to follow up on these breadcrumbs their father left for them, even if it means their careers in the Navy will end because of it. They need the closure and answers as to why anyone, especially Hesse, would target an innocent man and murder him in cold blood. Damn it, Kris thinks to herself. This is going to change a lot of things in their lives if they go through with the investigation on the toolbox and the tiger, but she genuinely believes that it will be completely worth it. 

Kris looks at the wall and nods, trying to anticipate everything that’s going to happen in the next few days. Kris can’t help but think that if her and Steve hadn’t been hunting down the Hesse brothers, then maybe, just maybe, their father might still be alive right now, and they could still have a longer career in the Navy. But everything happens for a reason, Kris decides, and says “fuck it, let’s get this bastard”, to Steve, which make him grin at his sister. 

For the next hour, Steve and Kris grab a bite to eat at the restaurant connected to their hotel, and head over to pearl harbour, where they wait to meet with Governor Jameson. They arrive half an hour early, and decide to head to the edge of the pier to pay respects to their grandfather, as well as the other lives lost at the pearl harbour attack, who are still entombed in the ocean, only a few hundred feet away from where Steve and Kris stand now. Knowing that their grandfather, the original Steve McGarrett, was an honourable man who fought until the very last moment of his life to protect this country, is something that Steve and Kris hold dear to their hearts; they both have his service number tattooed on their forearms, reminding them constantly of his sacrifice. Maybe now they will have to get something for their father tattooed on them too as a reminder. 

Once they are both finished paying their respects, Steve and Kris continue to stand at the pier and begin to devise an action plan to continue their investigation and start to track down Victor Hesse again. They talk in hushed voices, to make sure that they can’t be heard, and ultimately decide that they will go to the house tomorrow once HPD leaves the scene to recover the tiger and the champ toolbox and see where it goes from there. What matters most right now is arranging the funeral for their father, which should hopefully be tomorrow morning if they can pull the right strings with HPD today. Steve and Kris get so caught up in their plans that they almost forget that they’re supposed to be meeting the Governor any minute now, so when she gets their attention by saying “Commanders?” loudly over the wind, they almost jump in surprise. Thankfully, they keep their cool and turn around to face the voice that called them. 

Governor Pat Jameson is a tall, blonde, older woman, who immediately gives off the impression that she will not be messed with. Kris likes that. Steve doesn’t really look impressed. 

“Governor,” Steve says flatly, now facing the woman, who is approaching them still. Governor Jameson’s short blonde hair is blowing in the wind from the ocean, as is her business skirt and fitted suit jacket, but she doesn’t let that phase her. She walks up to the two Commanders and outstretches her hand for them to shake. Once greetings are passed around, Governor Jameson thanks Steve and Kris for meeting with her and invites them to walk along the pier with her. Still wondering what the Governor could possibly want, Steve and Kris look at each other, and then agree, following Governor Jameson’s lead. 

This should be an interesting conversation, Kris thinks to herself as she slides off her hat, which is about to blow off in the wind. Here goes nothing.


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris and Steve finally meet with the governor, and have a decision to make, then see an old friend for the first time in seventeen years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any mistakes are my bad, mostly because I love to write this at one in the morning! oops!

The three walk in silence for a few moments. Governor Jameson is trying to think of a good way to start the conversation, and Steve is worried about his hat flying away too, so he takes it off his head and tucks it under his arm, mimicking his sister’s previous actions. 

“I just wanted to start off again, by saying how sorry I am for your loss, Commanders. Your father was a great man, and I had the pleasure to know him personally. He death shocked us all; he loved this island so much and did such a great job protecting it.” Governor Jameson begins, which makes Steve and Kris’ heart rates pick up, like it does every time someone mentions their father’s murder. Every time, they can hear the gunshot that killed him, and it sends a shiver down their spines. It makes Kris feel nauseous when she thinks about it. 

Steve clears his throat. “Thank you, Ma’am. But with all due respect, why are we here? Is this about the investigation into Hesse’s whereabouts?” he asks with a hint of annoyance to his voice. Steve was never really one to deal with politicians- he never has had the patience for them and their constant lies. Kris is the one who has an unlimited amount of patience, and has no problem dealing with politicians and higher-ups, so maybe, he thinks, he should let her deal with the governor.  
“Ma’am, we are forbidden to investigate this, I’m sure you understand why.” Kris cuts in before the Governor can reply to Steve. The governor cannot know that they are planning to catch Hesse. Hell, nobody can know, because Steve and Kris don’t want to take anyone else down with them when they inevitably get court martialed. 

The governor nods. “I know. HPD is working non-stop to try and track down Hesse.” She tells the twins, hoping not to get them riled up. 

Steve lets out a short puff of air. “No offence, Ma’am, but you aren’t going to catch Hesse with traffic stops and roadblocks. He is a terrorist wanted all over the world, it’s going to be nearly impossible to catch him.” Steve states, and stops in place. Kris does too. The governor notices and stops in front of them. 

“I know, and that’s why I asked to meet with you two here today. Your father’s murder was a wake-up call to me and every law enforcement agency in Hawaii, which is why I’m putting together a special investigations taskforce… and I want you two to run it.” Governor Jameson explains, which reels Steve and Kris back a little bit. 

Why the hell would she want them, out of all the people on the island, to run the taskforce? Doesn’t she know that they aren’t cops? They don’t really abide by civilian rules in the navy, so it would most likely be a mess the moment it started, Steve immediately thinks, scoffing quietly. “You don’t even know us.” He replies to the Governor. 

She crosses her arms and tucks her hair behind her ears. “I know your resumes. Kristine McGarrett; the first female Navy SEAL, a double major in political sciences and operations research with minors in Japanese and Arabic. NCAA all-star for volleyball and Track at the Academy, sharing top of the class with her brother, Steven McGarrett, who double majored in military history and operations research with minors in Japanese and Arabic as well, and was an NCAA all-star in football and track. Five years naval intelligence, six years with the SEALs… your superiors say that you two are the best unit they have ever seen.” The governor justifies, which makes Kris chuckle a little bit. At least the governor came to their meeting prepared. 

“That is correct, Ma’am. But we cannot risk everything to track down one man. If you’ll excuse us, we have to make arrangements for our father’s funeral now. Please excuse us.” Kris bluffs, then her and Steve put their caps back on and prepare to get as far away from the Governor as possible before she finds out their ulterior motive to coming back home. They manage to get a few steps away before the governor calls out after them. 

“I can help you find this son of a bitch! With full immunity and means. And, you won’t face any disciplinary action from your superiors. Your taskforce will have blanket authority to go after guy like Hesse and get them the hell off of my island.” Governor Jameson offers, which makes the twins stop in their tracks. Steve and Kris look at each other briefly, and then turn to the Governor to hear her out once again. She walks towards them and stops a few feet in front of them before she speaks again. “Your rules, my backing, no red tape. And I promise both of you, what you see with me is what you get.” The governor offers.  
This taskforce would be the opportunity of a lifetime, But Steve and Kris both know that it would come with huge ramifications. Running the taskforce would mean no more Navy for them, which is something they aren’t sure they want to give up yet. A big decision and career change like this is something that needs to be well thought out and planned in advance, not made on a whim like this. Kris doesn’t really know how to politely say this to the governor, so she just stays silent, giving Steve the opportunity to act like a robot and hopefully get the governor to leave them be and Hunt down Hesse on their own.

Steve steps a little closer to the governor, getting kind of close to her face. “Here’s what I see. There’s an election coming up, and you’re looking to win again. What’s better than having two kids of a fallen cop be the faces of your election campaign as they avenge their father’s death and take down criminals on the island. Thanks, but we’ll pass.” Steve tells her off, scowling a little bit. Kris supresses a smile at her brother’s fake hostility towards the governor, but deep down, she knows he’s right in a way. Governor Jameson would get great PR for having an elite taskforce under her watch, but now is not the time for it. Steve and Kris need to hunt down Hesse and then get back to the Navy, where they can hopefully put Hawaii, the island that has caused them nothing but pain, behind them. 

Governor Jameson nods in defeat. “okay. Well, at least think about it, please. Here’s my personal number, please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything while you two are here, or if you change your minds.” She offers and digs a card out of her coat pocket. She hands it to Steve, and then heads back to her security detail and gets back into her car. Once her car is out of sight, Kris turns to Steve. 

“Thanks. I didn’t know what to say to her. I couldn’t bullshit my way out of that one, but you were on the nose with the profile you made for her.” Kris admits to her brother, patting him on the back. He smiles a bit and tucks the card into the inner pocket of his coat. Steve nods along. 

“That’s a hell of an offer, though. I think it’s a good thing to fall back on if we need to. She could save our asses, that’s for sure. And hey, even if we do get stuck with running the taskforce here, I’m sure it wouldn’t be any different than us switching gears and going into another division in the Navy,” Steve suggests. Kris shrugs. Steve does have a point… if need be, they can hunker down and work here (legally) to take down Hesse once and for all if they need to. 

“I just don’t know if I’m ready to give up the Navy yet…. But maybe we shouldn’t have turned her down. It is an amazing opportunity.” Kris admits, chuckling a little bit. Steve shrugs. “I dunno either, sis. I guess we just need to see how our own investigation goes first. And plus, a little change has never really hurt us.” He smiles, and claps his sister on the back gently, making sure he doesn’t aggravate her shoulder. 

She smiles and points at him. “No, no. Don’t you forget about that time you signed up for that fucking posting on the enterprise so you could try and hook up with a certain someone… and then dragged me into that mess too. That was the worst six months of my life, and you didn’t even get any, you fool.” Kris jokes, jabbing a little bit at Steve, who was fresh out of the academy then, and so in love with a certain ensign named Catherine Rollins. But that’s a story for another time. 

Steve grins and begins to walk back towards their loaner car so they can head to HPD and arrange the funeral for their father. Kris jogs to catch up with him and begins to talk about how amazing immunity and means would be for once, when someone calls out to them, making them turn to the voice that distracted them. 

“She’s a smart lady that one!” A man in a teal polo and khaki shorts says to them from a far, which makes Steve and Kris walk towards him out of curiosity. Kris quickly recognizes him, as does Steve, but they can’t quite place who he is… it’s been so long since they have seen anyone from here, so it’s proving to be a little difficult to put a name to his face.

The mystery man grins and walks closer to them. “You better!” he says, still smiling. He stops in front of them and finally introduces himself. “Chin-Ho Kelly!” He announces, which immediately makes Kris and Steve smile. Chin-Ho Kelly was just a rookie for HPD when Kris last saw him. Chin-Ho was being trained by her father, and he attended every football game of Steve’s with Kris and her father, no matter what. If Kris can remember correctly, Chin was once a great football player too. 

When chin says his name, Steve immediately knows who he is too. Chin-Ho was his dad’s last rookie, and one hell of a quarterback for Kukui High School back in the day. “Chin-Ho Kelly, Kukui High School!” Steve grins and shakes hands with Chin. “You were a great quarterback!” Steve jokes, already knowing what Chin’s reply is going to be. “That’s very kind of you to say, considering you were the one that broke all my records,” Chin winks at Steve, and then turns to Kris and smiles. 

“So good to see you again, Chin. At least we can see one friendly face while were back here!” Kris says happily and shakes hands with Chin as well. Chin shares his condolences with the twins, and Chin offers to walk them over to their car.  
Thankfully, Steve is the first one to break the silence that overcomes them all rather quickly. “if I can remember correctly, you were our father’s rookie the last time we saw you. Looks like you’ve moved on to greener pastures now,” Steve says to Chin, which makes him chuckle a bit. Kris quickly recognizes that this is a bit of a sore spot for chin, just based on how he reacted to that statement. 

“well, let’s just say that Honolulu PD and I had a disagreement over my job description.” Chin sighs. 

“Sorry to hear that, Chin. Our father always spoke very highly of you.” Kris admits to Chin. It was true, though. John McGarrett loved his new rookie and saw that he had a lot of potential. He also knew that Chin was destined for great things, such as rising through the ranks of HPD, not working security at Pearl Harbour’s gift shop.

“Thank you. Your father understood. He was very good to me after I was let go. We went out for coffee once a week, usually, just to check in on one another. He was a good friend to me, and I know that cost him something…If only there was a way that I could pay him back for all that he has done for me.” Chin explains, and then stops in his tracks, and turns to look at the twins. 

“but now that you two are here, maybe you can do something.” Chin begins. 

Kris furrows her brows, trying to figure out what Chin means. Steve tilts his head and straight up asks him what he means. Chin sighs a little bit. “The chief of police put a haole on your father’s case. Word is he’s fresh off the mainland, only been here six months… which means he has no clue how this island works.” Chin tells them in confidence, of course. 

This makes Kris’ mind run a mile a minute. Steve thanks him for the information, and continues talking to him, while Kris switches to autopilot for the duration of their walk, trying to understand what this could mean for them. If there’s a mainlander working on their father’s murder, then his case will never be solved, and Hesse will never really be caught. This is going to make Steve and Kris’s solo investigation really hard now, too, because they won’t have any information from HPD to help them too. Maybe they do need to take the governor’s offer and run the taskforce, just so they can have complete control over their father’s case and make sure Hesse is caught. Lord knows a haole fresh from the mainland won’t be able to do it, so they will have to. 

Without even realizing it, Kris is back in the passenger seat of the car and buckled in as Steve pulls out of the parking lot of Pearl Harbour. Steve notices Kris’ snap back to reality and looks over at her. “what were you thinking about?” He asks as he merges back onto the highway so they can head to HPD and talk about their father’s funeral. 

Kris takes off her hat and takes a deep breath. “I think we need to take the governors offer. The haole won’t be able to crack dad’s case… he was rooted to this island and respected by everyone. If any locals know anything about the case, they won’t be telling it to this new guy. Especially if he wears a suit and tie.” Kris explains to Steve, who is quite focused on the traffic in front of him. Steve grips the steering wheel tighter and looks over at Kris once he stops at a light. 

“This is the only time I’m gonna ask this but are you sure about this? Like one hundred percent, we have to do this, this is the only way, sure?” Steve asks, now rubbing his chin in deep thought. Kris nods. “The haole is going to fuck us over. He’s either going to withhold information and do everything by the books or get ignored by everyone on the island. We’ll need that information that he might have.” 

“And if we take the job running the taskforce, we will have jurisdiction, and be able to practically subpoena him for the information.” Steve finishes for Kris and continues to drive when the light turns green. Kris nods at him in reply. 

“So, should we call the governor? How are we going to get this to work? Hesse is probably working on an escape plan, and we need to get everything sorted out with the Navy,” Kris begins to worry, but Steve just chuckles. 

“I’m sure the governor can help us out. She wouldn’t want us to take down Hesse for her if she couldn’t get us to do it right away. Let’s lead her on for a little bit and go through with our original plan. Let’s go to the house tomorrow, and see where that takes us, okay?” Steve tells Kris before she blows up with worry. Kris never likes to go into things without a perfect plan, so she tends to get a little stressed out when things are improvised along the way. That’s why she’s the brains out of the twins, and Steve’s the brawn; Steve is ready to go into any situation, guns ablaze at any time, plan or no plan. Kris agrees to this, and then begins to mentally prepare for what they have to do at HPD to prepare for their father’s funeral. Their time at HPD won’t be pleasant, that’s for sure.


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Kris eat cocoa puffs to distract themselves from the fact that they have to bury their second parent in a few hours, and a certain loud-mouthed haole detective makes an appearance.

Kris and Steve spend a few hours with Duke and the chief of police arranging their father’s funeral for the next morning. They decide to bury him at punchbowl, as he was a veteran, and many people on the island considered him a hero for being such a great cop. Steve and Kris ultimately decide that they will put up a plaque for him at the family mausoleum next to his wife and parents, who all have a plaque there too. Oddly enough, the only McGarrett body buried there is of Jean, the widowed wife of Ensign Steven McGarrett, who died in the Pearl Harbour attacks. Once the meeting is over and everything is set in stone (thankfully HPD was already mostly done with their funeral plans for their father, because they knew that Steve and Kris were overseas at the time of his death), Steve and Kris head back to their hotel to finally get out of their uniforms and relax for the night. They end up grabbing a bite to eat again at the restaurant and have a few beers to unwind before heading back to their room for the night. During dinner, Steve steps out to make a phone call to Mary to inform her of their father’s death, and to ask her to come to the funeral. Mary, who essentially grew up without any parents (she was only ten when their mom died and their father sent them away), said she would think about it, and then hung up. 

The next morning, Kris find herself reluctant to get out of her bed after a night of minimal sleep. Her mind was racing all night, just trying not to think about her father’s funeral in a few hours, and how miserable it truly is to bury both of your parents before the age of fourty. Neither of her parents will ever be able to be grandparents if Kris or her siblings have any kids down the road, and they will never get to see how their kids have grown up in so many ways. Deep down, it breaks Kris’ heart to think about, but she knows that it is something that is completely out of her control. All she can do now is take care of her siblings and make sure that they keep the memory of their parents alive and (hopefully) make them proud. 

Kris continues to lie in bed for the next little while, trying to muster up all the power and courage in her to get up while Steve goes out for a run to try and clear his mind. Kris would love to go with him, but she can’t risk popping her stitches quite yet. Half an hour into Steve’s run, Kris hauls her ass out of bed and trudges into the bathroom to freshen up a little bit and make herself look presentable for the funeral today. After washing her face, Kris looks at herself in the mirror for the first time in a while. Her brown hair that was recently cut (by Steve during a little bit of off time on base) into a choppy bob to stay out of her face during missions, and be as low maintenance as possible, is now a mess from her restless (lack of) sleep. She notices a few more wrinkles on her forehead and around her eyes- something that comes with aging and stress, she assumes. But her eyes… oh boy her eyes. Specifically, the bags under her sad, blue eyes that prove she hasn’t slept in a while look rather daunting. If she had any makeup right now, she sure as hell would be using it to make her look like she was a living human being and not an exhausted person who probably hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in the last seventeen years of her life. Taking off her pyjama shirt, she sighs and takes a closer look at the rest of her body. Her chest is now littered with black and blue bruises from the bullets she took in her vest yesterday- she doesn’t dare to touch them because she knows that it will hurt like a bitch. Kris sighs and looks at her left shoulder, which is still dressed in a white bandage that’s probably due for a change. She carefully takes off the dressing and winces as she touches the tender skin around her bullet wound. From there, she grabs some saline, a new dressing and some medical tape from her medkit, then applies a new dressing, thinking about how this wound is going to lead to yet another scar on her body. Throughout her career in the Navy and Military, Kris’ body has slowly begun to be covered in scars from bullet wounds, shrapnel, cuts, broken bones and the occasional surgery. It’s just one of the joys of being on the front lines with the men and going out on dangerous missions all the time; Steve has plenty of scars and aches too from it. One thing that Kris loves about her body though, is her tattoos. Each upper arm has a tattoo, and she loves to look at them whenever she gets the chance. Her left arm has a beautiful custom Navy piece that she got with Steve when they graduated from the academy, and her right arm has a black and white mandala with some thick black stripes near her elbow. Kris then gets changed into a new pair of underwear and a sports bra, and washes her face, hoping it makes her look and feel less tired. 

A knock on the bathroom door snaps Kris out of her thoughts. It’s Steve, and he’s back from his run, by the sound of it. “Hey, if you’re done lookin’ at yourself in the mirror, I brought some coffee for us. And maybe some cocoa puffs from the Liliha Bakery.” Steve says loudly, which makes’ Kris smile. She dries off her face and opens the door, now poking her head out of it. “Cocoa puffs? Gee, I hope you bought something for yourself, because if you think you’re getting any of them, you’re dead wrong. Gimme a sec.” Kris grins, wiggling her eyebrows at Steve, who is putting the coffees down on the table, now chuckling at his twin who seriously hasn’t changed at all since they were kids.

Kris throws her pyjama shorts back on and exits the bathroom, making a beeline for the coffee and cocoa puffs. Steve hands her a coffee, and then opens up the bag of cocoa puffs. Before Steve can even think about grabbing a cocoa puff for himself, Kris’ hand is already on one, apparently quite eager to eat it. Steve can’t help but laugh at his sister’s antics; this was something she has done since they were little kids… she loves the cocoa puffs from Liliha, and would fight tooth and nail for one. Every Sunday, their mom would get up early and grab fresh cocoa puffs for the entire family to have, and they would usually sit outside and have them for breakfast as a family. From there, Steve and Kris eat their breakfast in silence, not really wanting to discuss what is going to be happening today, because frankly, it’s something that they both don’t want to think about. Once they’re all finished, Steve heads into the bathroom to take a quick shower after his run, and then they both put their dress uniforms once again. 

The funeral is a sombre affair. Many HPD officers come up to Steve and Kris and offer their condolences, and Steve and Kris answer them on autopilot, thanking them. Before their father’s casket is lowered into the ground, Kris is handed the flag that was rested on top of it, which made her breath catch in her throat. Steve put a hand on her back in confidence and placed another on the flag as they said one last goodbye to their father. Kris found herself on autopilot for the entirety of the service, as it was something that she didn’t really want to remember or experience ever again. Losing one parent was hard enough, but now that both were gone, and her father was murdered because of something that her and Steve were working on was something that was simply incomprehensible. The ‘what if we hadn’t taken on the mission of tracking down the Hesse brothers’ made Kris feel sick to her stomach to think about- because if they hadn’t, John McGarrett would still be alive today, and his children wouldn’t be orphans. 

When Kris comes back to reality, her and Steve are the only ones left at the cemetery. Kris sighs and crosses herself, whispering a quiet goodbye to her father, and then begins to walk away. She pats Steve on the back, and together they head back to the SUV, and drive back to the hotel in silence. They can mourn for their father once they catch Hesse. He needs to pay for what he did, and they need to get a little bit of revenge. But, they can’t do that if their minds are occupied with mourning and emotions, so for now, they will be pushed back until they know that justice has been served to Hesse. Steve and Kris know that they can’t bring their father back, but the least they can do is catch his killer and make sure he spends the rest of his life in prison for his actions and all of the pain he has caused. 

When Steve and Kris get back to the hotel, they get changed out of their uniforms and go over their mission plan once more; sneak in the house through the back door once the coast is clear, and then begin to investigate the house. They need to see if Hesse left any evidence behind, and then they need to track down the tiger and the champ tool box to try and figure out why their father mentioned them. Maybe they would find out why their father apologized for lying to them moments before his death as well. Before they leave the hotel room, they make sure to grab their Navy ID’s and their service weapons just to be safe; they don’t know if Hesse is lurking around the house, just waiting for them to fall into his trap or something like that. It makes Kris nervous to think about going to the house, but she knows that it is something that needs to be done so they can get some real answers.

Thankfully, when they arrive at the house, nobody else is there. They decide to park the truck down the street and enter the house through the back door, just to make sure that they aren’t seen by anyone in the neighbourhood, or by any HPD members who may be lurking around the house.  
Seeing her childhood home for the first time in seventeen years is an odd feeling to Kris. She would feel relieved to be at home under any other circumstance, but today, it makes her feel a little sick to her stomach. For some reason, Kris can’t think of any happy memories regarding this house- all she can think of all the pain she has felt here throughout her life; this is where she lost both parents. In the back of her mind, she wishes this house would just burn down so all of the bad feelings end emotions could be forgotten along with it, but at the same time, this house is all that Kris and her siblings have left of their parents, and she simply cannot bear to part ways with them entirely yet. 

Taking a deep breath, Kris follows Steve into the house. They enter into the dining room, which also doubled as their dad’s office. Kris remembers sneaking into the kitchen for a glass of water late at night and seeing her father doubled over case files, always working hard, even at home. But now, instead of seeing her father sitting at the desk and deep into his work, there are evidence markers, pools of blood and blood spatter on the walls. Before Kris can get too emotional about the sight before her, she tucks it into the back of her mind and gets to work. First, she needs to find the tiger that she made for her father- hopefully there are some answers in it. 

Steve makes a beeline for the desk, noticing a lack of dust right in the middle of it, perfectly shaped like a computer. Kris can essentially see the gears turning in his head as he remembers that their father hated computers and refused to buy one. Steve then looks around for something and manages to grab a print next to the computer spot, thanks to some trusty wheel lube that their father had tucked away in the desk. Steve snaps a picture of it to run once they leave the house, and then continues to look around the room for more evidence left behind by Hesse and perhaps an accomplice, based on a bloody boot print left behind that doesn’t match up to Hesse’s custom shoes. 

It takes a few moments, but Kris manages to find the tiger along the wall behind her father’s desk. She quickly moves to it and picks it up, chuckling a little bit. This tiger was one of the ugliest things Kris has ever seen or made, and its impossible to tell that it even is a tiger- it’s lumpy and poorly painted, but alas, it is something that her father had cherished from the moment she gave it to him, which is something she will always appreciate. 

“Got the tiger. Let’s go find the box.” Kris tells Steve, who nods, and follows her out of the office, and to the garage, which is down the hallway and to the right. “Looks like Hesse had an accomplice. That’s probably how they managed to ambush us. Looks like there was a computer here, too.” Steve explains, pushing open the door to the garage, revealing their father’s beloved mercury marquis, exactly how they left it seventeen years ago. 

“So, Hesse and his accomplice managed to track our calls… son of a bitch.” Kris mutters to herself, now understanding how those helicopters appeared out of nowhere and attacked their convoy in Korea. She shuts the door behind her and walks to the front of the marquis. Steve pulls off the cover on the car and lets out a low whistle, running his hands along the front of it. “Never thought we’d see this beauty again. I’m glad dad could never part with it.” He grins, patting the hood of it lightly. 

Kris smiles, now walking around the car to look at it entirely. “Dad sure had taste in cars. God, I missed this piece of junk. It needs so much work.” She tells her brother, who only smiles in reply. Their father had bought this car when Steve and Kris were fifteen, and they were all working on it together so that Steve and Kris could drive it once they turned sixteen and got their own licences. But that never got to happen, as life got in the way. Kris, Steve and Mary were all sent away to the mainland before the car was completely fixed up, so it must have sat in here for the last seventeen years. Kris sighs, and looks inside the car, admiring the beautiful leather seats when she spots something along the far wall of the garage.   
The red Champ toolbox.   
Kris calls Steve and directs him to the box, and then makes her way over to it too.   
With a bit of hesitation, mostly because he doesn’t know what to expect inside this box, Steve unlatches the lid and pops it open, furrowing his brows at the odd contents inside it. 

Kris notices the contents too and sets down the tiger next to the toolbox and reaches for a black tape recorder sitting on top of a bunch of old photographs. She looks it over, and then hits the play button, revealing an old recording from their father. Her heart sinks to her stomach when she hears her father’s voice for the first time since his death, and immediately turns it off, not wanting to hear anymore of it right now. She places the tape recorder back in the box, and looks over at Steve, who is currently looking at the photographs, looking rather shocked. Before Steve can say anything, there is a distant slam in the house, which immediately sends Steve and Kris into defence mode. Steve quickly puts the photographs back into the box and shuts it. Kris hurries to get some cover behind the car and hopefully get the intruder, most likely Hesse with a surprise ambush. She slides her gun out of the holster on her right hip and looks over at Steve, who motions to the door to the house that they entered the garage from. Kris nods at him, understanding that someone is about to come through it. 

And sure enough, someone does. A man, kris presumes by his loud voice, who is currently yelling orders at Steve, as they both have their guns pointed at each other. They manage to come to a truce and lower their weapons to show their ID at each other once the intruder introduces himself as Detective Danny Williams; the haole that HPD put on their father’s case. 

Once Steve and the Detective show their ID’s to each other and put their weapons away, Steve tells Kris to come out. She slides her gun back in her holster and slowly stands up with her hands in the air, so the detective does not accidentally shoot her, and finally gets a good look at the loud voice she heard yelling at Steve. 

Detective Williams is undoubtedly stunning. 

This is going to be a big problem, Kris thinks to herself.


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Kris meet a certain haole detective who happens to yell a lot. There are a lot of bad first impressions.

When Danny Williams arrived at the McGarrett house this morning to look it over once more before the cleaners got to work this afternoon, he hoped to find something; anything that would pin Anton Hesse to the murder of John McGarrett. As of right now, Hesse was in the wind, and the only thing that was tying him to the murder was the word of McGarrett’s son and daughter, who called his death in from their deployment overseas. Danny knew that there was a lot more to this case than HPD knew, but he had a feeling that he would never truly know why Hesse had murdered John McGarrett in cold blood; all he could do right now is try and take him down for it. Thankfully, Danny was close to tying the murder weapon to Hesse and a local arms dealer named Fred Doran, a real low life who has been in and out of jail for most of his life, but there was nothing Danny could do about it at the moment, as he was waiting for a warrant from the courts to investigate Doran any further. 

But that all got thrown aside when he hears some movement coming from the house’s garage as well as some muffled voices. Sighing, Danny quickly musters up the courage to head to the garage and arrest the possible intruders and give ‘em hell, jersey style- maybe bust ‘em up a little bit. He wasn’t sure who would be stupid enough to trespass on a crime scene, let alone one that was investigated one of HPD’s most respected and decorated officers. Danny tiptoes over to the garage door and lets out a puff of air before popping open the door and yelling at the intruders to put their hands up. Little did he know that he would be met with a man who would flip his life upside down. After a brief yelling match, mostly to see who has the most authority in the room, the intruder identifies himself as Lieutennant Commander Steve McGarrett. Once they look at eachother’s ID’s and lower their weapons, Danny sighs and looks at the man. “look, I’m so sorry for your loss, but you can be here, this is an active crime scene.” Danny explains, sliding his gun back in his holster and slipping his ID back in his pocket. Steve does the same thing, but once he’s done, he crosses his arms at the shorter Detective, looking a little amused. “doesn’t look very active to me. Kris you can come out now.” Steve says over his shoulder. 

A woman slowly rises up from behind the car parked in the garage with her hands up. As a matter of fact, she only has her right hand up, as her left one is in a sling. Danny immediately assumes that the woman is Kris McGarrett, the daughter of John McGarrett. Her and Steve must be trying to investigate the murder of their father as well. 

“Look guys, I can’t share any information about your father’s investigation. This is an HPD case, I’m sure you understand. But I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Danny tells the McGarretts, who only smile a little bit; Danny knows that they are definitely up to something now. 

Kris walks around the car and stands next to Steve, who is now “Detective, were you aware that Hesse had an accomplice? He left behind a boot print and a mark from his laptop on our father’s desk. We know this because our father hated technology.” Kris says to Danny, which causes him to look at her fully for the first time. Despite her smart-ass/know it all manner of speech, most likely out of habit from her military background, Danny does have to admit that she is quite beautiful. 

Kris is probably half a foot taller than him, and very lean; her muscular figure alone is enough to intimidate anyone who would approach her. It’s easy to tell that she is definitely a soldier of some sort. Currently dressed in skinny tank cargo pants, a plain olive t-shirt and a pair of black runners, Kris looks like she is ready to ship out on another mission, or just switch into SEAL mode to get Danny out of hers and Steve’s hair. Her brown hair is tucked neatly behind her ears, lining up perfectly with her jaw, all the way around her head. Not a single hair is out of place, which is something that is expected for someone as highly decorated in the Navy and Military as her. Danny is quick to admit that Kris is a beautiful woman, but he has a gut feeling that he will never truly get to know her. Just based off his first impression of her, Danny knows that Kris is Command material down to her bones. It almost makes him shiver when he thinks about what she would be like if she were ever crossed by someone- surely, you would be attending their funeral a few days later. 

A loud clanking noise snaps Danny out of his thoughts, now drawing his attention to Steve, who is dressed almost identically to his sister, except he is in a pair of clunky cargo boots, and he is also wearing an open button up t-shirt, which still makes him look like a military man. Danny sighs once he notices what Steve is doing and puts a hand on his hip. “and you can leave the box. That is evidence!” Danny says in an annoyed tone, feeling really ticked off that someone could peg him as that stupid. 

Steve scowls and picks up the box and turns to Danny. “we came with it.” Steve says quickly, and then tries to walk by Danny. Trying not to roll his eyes, Danny puts up a hand to stop him. “No, you did not. I can see the dust void on the counter! What’s in the box that’s got you all hot and bothered, hey?” Danny grills Steve, which only makes him smirk in response. 

Danny shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, now knowing that these McGarretts are going to be a real pain in his ass throughout this case. He hopes that by some miracle, he can solve this case, but deep down, he knows it’s going to be damn near impossible, especially if he has John McGarrett’s children working against him trying to solve it as well. 

“How long have you been with Honolulu PD, Detective?” Kris asks, hoping to deflect and change the subject so her and Steve can make it out of the house without getting arrested. At this rate, they’re going to have to pull a lot of strings and get some favours paid back to them if they’re going to get blocked on the investigation and its leads as much as Detective Williams is doing to them right now. 

Danny looks taken aback that someone would ask that. Was it really that obvious that he was fresh out of Jersey? “that’s none of your business. What are you, Barbara Walters?” Danny asks in annoyance now. 

Steve switches the box in his hands and points at Danny. “Actually, it is when you’re investigating our father’s murder.” He says matter-of-factly, which makes Danny roll his eyes. 

“Right. That is what I’m doing. Now, the sooner you two leave, the sooner I can get back to it. so please,” Danny says, directing his hands to the door. Steve and Kris smile and try to leave, but Steve still refuses to put the box down. 

“Leave the box or get arrested.” Danny states in a disappointed tone, hoping that the threat of incarceration will knock some sense into the siblings. 

Steve hands off the toolbox to Kris, who tries not to look confused at what her brother is doing now. Steve puffs out his chest, suddenly super confident about something, which worries Danny- he knows that Steve is about to either do something really stupid, or something really smart, and either way, it’s going to piss Danny off. 

“alright. You gonna call for backup?” Steve asks, and pulls his phone out of his side pocket. Danny sighs and rolls his eyes. “an ambulance.” He mutters, seriously debating on shooting the twins who won’t give it up and leave. 

Smirking, Steve takes out the governor’s card from his pocket and dials the number, immediately asking for governor Jameson. When the Governor’s voice is heard by both Kris and Danny, Danny’s hands fly up in the air in disbelief; who the hell has the governor on speed dial? And, who the hell thinks that they can undermine him like this? 

Steve turns and looks Danny in the eyes, smiling now. “governor, we’ll take the job. We’ll run your taskforce. We will transfer to the reserves right away and-” Steve says into the phone with a touch of cockiness in his voice. 

Kris shakes her head at the theatrics of her brother. Detective Williams looks like he’s about to run across the room and tackle Steve because he’s so angry at him. 

“Right here? Okay. I, Steven J. McGarrett, do solemnly declare upon my honor and conscience to act at all times to the best of my abilities and knowledge in a manner befitting an officer of the law… thank you, Governor... yes. We will be right there.” Steve says, and then hangs up. He smiles at Danny and grabs the toolbox back from Kris. Now it’s our crime scene, Governors orders.” Steve says in a chipper tone and walks out of the Garage. Kris grabs the tiger from the bench and follows him out, still shaking her head a little bit, mostly because she’s trying not to laugh. 

Danny uses a lot of self-restraint to not just wring both of the McGarretts by the neck as he walks past them and out of the house. He makes sure to slam the doors on his Mustang, so they know how pissed off he is. As soon as he is on the street, he punches the steering wheel a few times to make sure he doesn’t spontaneously combust, and then dials his captain to ask him what the hell he should do now. 

Now alone in the house, Steve and Kris walk into the kitchen. They both put the toolbox and tiger on the island and stand across from each other. Kris leans against the counter and looks at Steve, who is still riding his adrenaline rush from the confrontation with Detective Williams in the garage. 

“So, I guess were staying for a bit, huh?” Kris chuckles. 

Steve nods. “Let’s try and use all the resources we have on the island to catch Hesse. If we don’t have him in six months, we will reactivate and hunt him down with Naval intelligence, yeah?” he suggests. 

Kris shrugs. “sure, why not. We’ve probably burnt out most of our resources in the Navy and Military, so this will be a good thing, I think.” 

Steve walks over to his sister, grinning. He claps her on the (good) arm, and says to her “that’s the spirit, sis. Now come on, we gotta go meet the governor at the supreme court building.” 

Kris chuckles and follows her brother out of the house and to the car. It looks like they’re definitely staying around for a while now, Kris thinks to herself, feeling a little bit worried about what life will be like back on the island.


End file.
